1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure generally relates to bridged polycyclic based compounds for the inhibition and amelioration of disease. More particularly, the disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for formulating antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, antidisease compositions using these bridged polycyclic based compounds for application to topical and otic surfaces.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
Dendrimers are branched polymers with densely packed end-functional groups that can be used to attach the dendrimers to bioactive molecules such as drugs, targeting ligands and imaging agents. Since a significant portion of a dose of pharmaceutical drugs is lost in the circulation due to impaired uptake by the cells especially in the case of drug resistant cells. The actual concentration of a drug inside the cells is much less than what is present extracellularly. Hence, to accomplish highly effective treatment of diseases it is important to increase the intracellular amount of the drug. Dendrimers have already been used as a carrier agent for several known antiviral agents. Attaching these known agents to a dendrimer has been shown to increase the activity of the agent verses using the agent alone and uncoupled to a dendrimer. However, there are problems associated with using dendrimers, especially when scaling up production to commercial quantities.
Two main methods exist for the synthesis of dendrimers: a divergent approach, where the dendrimer is assembled in a totally linear manner or a convergent method where fragments of the dendrimer are condensed together. These two methods both suffer from major problems when it comes to practical synthesis, in particular, the necessity for repeated and time-consuming purifications.
Additional problems associated with the synthesis of dendrimers are: defects in the molecular structure; and the molecular structure of dendrimers is so crowded that many times other molecules become trapped within the spaces within the molecular structure of the dendrimer
Therefore there is a need for a pharmaceutical composition comprising a compound which increases the intracellular amount of pharmaceutical drugs but which is easier and cheaper to synthesize than dendrimers and which are capable of attaching different functionalities more easily.
A common problem among animals are topical skin infections. Many times these infections may be commonly found in and/or around an animals feet. In general these types of foot maladies are referred to as pododermatitis. Pododermatitis is generally an inflammation of the feet of animals.
Many times it is difficult to determine the cause of pododermatitis. Even if a cause is determined, treatment of pododermatitis is often problematic due to reoccurrences or lack of affordable treatment options. In many cases, pododermatitis can only be managed and cannot be cured. In some cases surgery, including amputation of all or a portion of the infected animal's foot, may be the only option.
Unless surgery is indicated, pets may be cared for at home in some cases. It may be necessary for an owner to apply foot soaks, hot packing, and/or bandaging on a daily basis for months at a time. Pharmaceutical therapy may include long-term antibiotics, anti-fungals, steroids, chemotherapeutic agents (cancer), anti-parasitic agents and/or hormone replacement. The pharmaceutical therapy selected will depend upon the underlying cause. Currently systemic, expensive antibiotics are used for this purpose. They don't work well as the infection is usually a fungus and bacteria combined. Antibiotics treat bacterial infections.
What is needed therefore is an easy to use, effective system for maintaining good skin health, especially in and around an animal's feet (e.g., toes, nails, skin, hooves). What are needed are effective methods and compositions for preventing and treating topical disease in animals. Preferably such methods and compositions should be easy-to-use and comprise antimicrobial agents. Such methods and compositions should provide long-term effectiveness against foot problems. Such methods and compositions should be affordable, safe and easy to use on a regular basis.